Parents' Guide to

Bella Sara

By Erin Bell, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Card-collecting and horse-riding game for young girls.

Game Nintendo DS, Windows, Mac, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Xbox, Sega Dreamcast 2008
Bella Sara Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

See all

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What’s It About?

Bella Sara is a popular franchise aimed at young girls that lets them acquire and care for hundreds of different virtual horses through trading cards and an online community. The new BELLA SARA video game mirrors the online world in many ways but allows players to do a few extra things as well.

At the Stables you can see the horses you've collected. You can brush them, tap the stones out of their hooves, clean their stalls, and feed them using the DS stylus. You can go riding on different courses, compete in show jumping competitions at the Arena, and check the bulletin board for extra challenges, like seeing how quickly you can groom a horse's coat. Some of these activities earn you money. Finally, you can visit the shop to buy clothes, supplies, and of course more trading cards. There are 232 cards to collect in the game, and some form special sets that will unlock five new horses in the stable. Some cards appear randomly, some are given as rewards, and some can be purchased or traded. Players can also exchange duplicate cards with friends using the DS's wireless communications feature. Each card shows a picture of a different horse along with an uplifting message, like "Take a chance and follow your heart."

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (2):

Bella Sara perhaps sticks a little too closely to its virtual world roots instead of offering more "game-like" features such as a story to follow, or more sophisticated challenges. As it stands, although most players will want to keep coming back to collect all the cards, cleaning out horses stalls and riding around the same few courses can get tedious.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how horses are fun to ride, but that taking care of them is also a lot of work. What is your favorite Bella Sara trading card, and why? What are some of the messages that meant the most to you?

Game Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate